Cardiff Library Storytime's Ms. Jenn

Lately it seems as though there’s more storytimes and small child events in North County than you can shake a magic wand at. But our local Cardiff Library still keeps us coming back every Friday wanting more. That’s because only Cardiff has Ms. Jenn, the storytime librarian who comes equipped with a Hello Kitty boom box and a quiet love of story to match your child’s.

Ms. Jenn describes the mood of her storytimes as cozy. They’re often on the smaller side and she knows many kids by name. While reading, she pauses to chat with them about the book in a way that is totally on their wavelength. Rather than trying obviously to teach them something, which even a wee one can sniff out, she effortlessly tends to comprehension and enjoyment.

Now perched in the new kid’s corner wing, she has plenty of light and books on display as she reads. “That’s an odd thing to do,” she might say after a well-dressed frog does a certain strange something. “Didn’t he just do the opposite in the beginning?” and the small cluster of eyes around her wonder the same thing.

When I ask Ms. Jenn—known outside the story circle as Jennifer Runge—about her history with storytime, she traces her first job at a library to one a college friend told her about in Carlsbad. There she worked at the children’s reference desk and, among other duties, she got to pre-record and then perform puppet shows. “I was able to perfect my Ms. Piggy and Elmo voices,” she boasts.

Ms. Jenn found she loved helping kids with their everyday work of learning. “Also,” she says, “there is a great comfort to be in a building of knowledge. I saw parents and children cuddling in the corner reading Dr. Seuss, teens immersing themselves in a bean bag chair finding comfort in the pages of a book, and adults gathering to read the morning paper. ... Surrounded by knowledge and curious people—it seemed like a wonderful place to spend your days.”

So she finished her B.A. then commuted to UCLA every week until she finally attained her master's degree in Library and Information Science, all the while still working at a library down here.

Ms. Jenn got hooked on storytime from the beginning, over 10 years ago while getting to introduce children to The Three Little Pigs or Itsy Bitsy Spider. "To see how they progress with the movements through repetition was fantastic," she says. "And suddenly I was Ms. Jenn!”

She explains her quiet chatting with the kids as a way to give them practice in articulating a story. To that end she may ask a question about what has happened or what might happen next. “I want to inspire these children with a love of reading and a curiosity for everything.”

When I ask what she expects of children during her storytimes, she says it doesn’t bother her if they are up and about. “I know in most cases, they are still listening to the story—they just can't sit still." She says if  someone is just having a meltdown, she'll put on a song or change the activity and trust that if that doesn't help, a caregiver will take the child away for a bit to let them calm down.

Currently, Ms. Jenn’s Friday 10:30 a.m. storytime is geared toward preschoolers, although my 21-month-old does still enjoy both the books and the giant stuffed animals nearby upon which she throws herself down repeatedly. Beginning in the fall, a toddler time will be added as well.

When I ask Ms. Jenn if she has anything else to tell our readers, she says just one thing. “I feel that I have the best job in the world!”

Yes! We want to tell her, it shows.

Storytime is every Friday, 10:30 a.m. at the Cardiff-by-the-Sea Library. Contact Number: 760-753-4027